A slowwwww week....

It has been a pretty slow week for me - at least tomorrow is Friday. I am not sure why but it has been one of those weeks that feels like it will never end. And of course this weekend will probably go by really fast as we will be continuing to get our house ready for my parents visit next week. I am excited for their visit as I have not seen them since Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, we have to switch each year with visiting our parents for Christmas since my parents live farther away - so I do not get to see them more than once/twice a year usually. We have plans to do a little shopping, a little sightseeing, a nice dinner for mother's day, cooking out if the weather is nice and who knows what else yet... but it should be fun!

7 days from tomorrow will be my next OB appt. I still have not yet had the courage to use my doppler...hopefully soon I will get the courage.

I wanted to ask -- my mom will be here for my OB appt and my DH will be out of town for work. Is it weird to bring my mom with me to my OB appt? I have thought about asking her if she wants to come but I am wondering if that is strange.... I saw patients bring their mom's to the RE's office but am not sure about OB appts.

Happy almost Friday = ) Off for my nightly walk (although I was lazy yesterday) and then afterwards, yummy Ghiardelli chocoloate brownie-making time for a cookout at work tomorrow.

More Flowers and Other Thoughts = )

If you can not tell, I LOVE flowers!! = ) I thought I would share the latest addition. We received a flower bouquet and a teddy bear from my DH's parents yesterday. The teddy bear picture did not come out too well. They wanted to tell us how excited they are for us. It was a nice, unexpected surprise.

I wish that I could be excited without the fear and nervousness I have going on right now. I thought that reaching the 2T, I would be able to relax and enjoy a little more but for some reason, I can not let my fear go. I keep telling myself that I need to for the sake of actually enjoying this pregnancy but I am finding it much easier said than done. I moved my next appt up a few days to occur on a day off instead of taking more time off of work so only 11 more days to go!! And it is a good thing as today, my manager asked me to travel during the week I originally had my appt. I still have not found the courage to use my doppler. I am thinking about waiting until the day before my next appt so it would only be one night of freaking out if I could not find the hb. However, I really want to try it. I am not sure I am strong enough to go in with the expectations of not finding the hb. I really wish I was.... We shall see. Maybe I will try after my walk while watching TV tonight!

I should get going to get in my walk before it gets dark. I am trying to be good and move around a little more than I was in the 1T. I am just starting out with small walks around the neighborhood.

Happy Monday!!

Heart Beat Doppler

So, I purchased a doppler last week and it arrived =) I have been so excited about it but this morning when I went to use it, I could not get the courage up to actually use it. I am too nervous that I might not be able to find a heartbeat and then will be freaking out all day, night and forever. I am 14w3d today and am thinking maybe I should wait to use it until after my next appt in 2 weeks. I just do not know. Why do I have to be so wishy-washy about these things?

New Lunch/Snack Tote for Work

I am so excited by my new lunch bag that my mom gave to me. I have been bringing lots of water & snacks to work using a reusable grocery tote so this new bag is great for me. It holds a ton and I feel much more fashionable. I can also use it on our vacation in June to bring stuff to the beach with us. The little things in life can bring such a smile to my face = ). 7 weeks until our vacation!!!

Happy April ICLW

Hello!! Happy April ICLW! I look forward to meeting new blog-friends and getting to know current blog-friends better = )

A little bit about me: I started my blog documenting my TTC journey and now I am blessed to be writing about my pregnancy journey! I wanted to mention this just in case anyone does not feel comfortable reading forward. I completely understand as I have been there and know it is hard! I hope & pray every day for all of my friends TTC to be blessed with their BFP!!!

My DH & I are both 37, we have been married for 7 1/2 years and have a very spoiled chocolate lab! We started TTC in Feb 2007 and are now 14 weeks along! We went through several cycles of Clomid that did not work, a failed IVF, a FET that was a chem pg and 4 Injectable IUIs (with our first IUI last August being an early loss/chem pg as well.) We were blessed with our 4th Injectable IUI cycle this past January/February. We are thankfully in the 2T now and although I am still very nervous as there is a ways to go, we finally told most of our family this past week. We told my parents after our first u/s as they knew about our TTC journey but my DH's family did not. And I am also starting to tell my friends & coworkers slowly. I am VERY VERY excited but constantly nervous at the same time!

Looking forward to this week and learning more about y'all!!

Tulips

Not the best picture, but the tulips are starting to bloom and I love them! I can not wait for our other flowers to start to bloom too. I can not wait for more warm weather to come around. It was 80 for two days last week but after some rain, dropped to the 50s again. It might get into the 60s this week. At least it is sunny outside = ) Much better than cold, snowy & gray!!

Nervous I did something wrong today......

I went for my weekly acupuncture appt today, which I always look forward to as it is a time for relaxation & a nap in the middle of the day = ) However, at the end of the appt, my acupuncturist who I trust dearly used these suction cups on my back to help start strengthening my back and minimize lower back pain later on. This was not the first time but the first time while being pregnant. And this time it sort of hurt! I stupidly did not say anything at the time but as the day went on, the ligament-like pain on my right side has started again! Now, I am worried that I did something wrong and worse, did something to hurt my little bean! I know my acupuncturist would not do anything to harm me or my little bean but I worry at almost anything these days. I hope my worrying is for nothing! I think I am going to ask next week for her to either not use the suction cups or to be a little gentler. I wish I were not so filled with worry that every little step I am going to take will be bad! I need to figure out how to worry a little less and enjoy everything more!! Tomorrow I will go shopping & hopefully that will help take my mind off of the constant worrying!

13w1d Appt = )

I made it to my appt in one piece and my appt went well. Unfortunately, no u/s as their portable u/s machine was down. But I did get to hear my little bean's beautiful heartbeat on the doppler! I was nervous as it took her a few moments to find - my little one was higher up than she thought! I have attached a little recording of it as my husband recorded a bit on his i-phone. I was bummed about not seeing my little bean but hearing the hb was amazing! I am going to look at dopplers this weekend to help me get through the next almost 4 weeks now. My next appt is on the 11th of May. I am feeling better after today but not sure how I am going to make it 4weeks. Ahhhhh.....

A few things I learned today:

* my iron is a tad low so I have to start eating lots of spinach like popeye to get more iron in my diet. The midwife said it was not low enough to take pills so I am glad to hear hear that. All my other bloodwork so far looks good.
* my skin is drier than she would like so I must drink more water (I am trying so hard!!) and also, use more lotion to minimize the stretch marks.
* although I have started to practice, I am not very good at the kegels. I must practice more!

I realized there is so much to learn!

The weather is absolutely beautiful today so hopefully when my husband gets home, we can go for a walk and I can start moving a little more now that I am getting some of my energy back!!

Thank you to everyone for your support & comments!! They help more than I can say in words!! Thank you!

12w6d - 1 1/2 days to go until next appt!

1 1/2 days to go until my next appt! Almost there and doing my best to remain sane and not have a nervous breakdown. I had no idea that this would be so hard! So, 63 hours to go!! I can make it - just hoping & praying all is well!! And I am so happy as my DH will be able to make the appt with me. His trip got postponed! = ) It is a good thing I did not make plans to be in NC this past weekend. I am very excited as my DH is very helpful at calming my nerves!

I have been wearing seabands for a while now to help with the nausea. Even though the nausea has subsided for the most part, I still wear them to help as the nausea is still here every now & then. Well, I have been very good up until today about not rolling up my sleeves - thankfully it is still a bit chilly so I am still wearing sweaters. Well, I totally was not thinking today and pushed up my sleeves --- and my VP asked me at work why I was wearing them. I told them I had not been feeling well lately and they help to make me feel better. But, I am sure he knows the real reason why. Only a couple of people at work know and I have been waiting until after my appt to tell others so hopefully I can be more open about it after my appt on Thursday.

Come on 63 hours -- FLY BY!! Please, oh, please!!!!

12w3d and Going Stir Crazy....

I am going stir crazy for my appt this coming Thursday! I am very nervous and hope everything is still progressing well. I am trying to remain optimistic but it is so hard not knowing what is going on inside. The nausea has gone away for the most part and food is tasting better than it has. The tiredness is still here and most nights I am in bed before 10pm. However, at some points, I do not even feel pregnant and it scares me to no end. This stage of pg definitely takes some patience/ calmness....

It is looking like my DH will not be able to come to the appt with me due to work = ( I hope & pray everything is still on track. I keep telling my little bean that I love him/her very much!!

Unfortunately, our plans this weekend fell through. I was looking forward to being busy but now I am at home, and have too much time to think about things.

Vacation Plans!

Well, we finally decided on vacation plans and completely switched from our thoughts about San Fran/Seattle. We decided on a beachy vacation instead in SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO. We are going for a week in June - 2+ months away. We used up our frequent flier miles to fly first class (yeah!!) and are still deciding on where to stay. We have been to the Caribbean several times on cruises, but never to Puerto Rico. We were supposed to go on a cruise in November 2008 that started/ended in San Juan but cancelled due to a conflict with my work (I had been offered an ex-pat assignment in Brazil and took a trip to explore the job and life in Brazil. In the end, it was not for me.)

I can not wait!!!

Decisions

I decided not to go with my DH to North Carolina in less than 2 weeks. Although I know it is OK to travel, I just did not feel comfortable making a decision so fast and feeling so rushed. Although I would have loved to see my parents, I will get to see them in the beginning of May so that is good. And I asked my DH tonight if we could start planning our vacation in June. Right now, we are looking at visiting friends in San Francisco and then going either to the Oregon Coast or Seattle. We shall see what we can work out -- we have some frequest flier miles to use, some hotel points etc. It should be fun planning.

Thank you for all of your feedback regarding the travels!! I appreciate it very much!